The Spartans were able to put together a very productive outing vs. Eastern Michigan, beating them 11-6 Wednesday afternoon.

All of Michigan State’s scoring took place in the third, fifth, and sixth innings. They were able to plate multiple runs each time.

MSU has now won their last three midweek games after losing their first four, which includes their first loss to Eastern earlier this year. The win means the Spartans split the season series with the Eagles, and have won seven out of the last 10.

With the win, the Spartans have improved their overall record to 26-19. Eastern slid to 18-31 on the season.

Welcome Back!

The Spartans welcomed back one of their valuable players from early on in the season. Unbeknownst to me, freshman outfielder Danny Gleaves left the lineup sometime before the B1G season kicked in for reasons that were not reported.

To be clear, I looked nearly everywhere and could find no reports as to why he was not playing. That does not mean it wasn’t out in the world. I very well could have missed something along the way.

Anyways, Gleaves was limited to just two games in more than a month, which really hurt Michigan State’s offense.

Before that his season looked like this:

• Danny Gleaves: .324 (22-68), 5 2B, 1 HR, 12 RBI

Spartans Staying The Course

Spartan second baseman Dan Durkin hit one of the banks of the Red Cedar, contributing to Michigan State’s early lead over Eastern. He ended his day 1-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Our designated hitter, Chad Roskelly (Sparty’s hero during Tuesday night’s walk off victory) went 3-for-3 with two RBI.

Roskelly has helped himself to a nice eight game hitting streak. Over that time he has hit .448 (13-29) with eight RBI.

Gleaves returned from injury and finished his day going 1-for-2 with a three run double. The outfielder was able to help his other freshman running mate, Bryce Kelley who had himself a day — going 3-for-5 with one RBI. He was also one dinger shy of the cycle.

• Bryce Kelley (RF): .347 (43-124), 6 2B, 3 3B, 18 RBI
• Brandon Hughes (CF): .333 (57-171), 11 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 32 RBI
• Chad Roskelly (DH): .329 (26-79), 5 2B, 2 HR, 18 RBI
• Alex Troop (P/1B): .325 (26-80), 6 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 12 RBI
• Danny Gleaves (LF): .315 (23-73), 6 2B, 1 HR, 15 RBI

Quick Takeaways

• Michigan State is facing a HUGE opponent this weekend when they travel to Lincoln, Nebraska to face the Cornhuskers aka the B1G leader.
• Gleaves is back and I can’t put enough emphasis on how big this is for the Spartan offense.
• MSU is in the middle of trying to salvage their season, only six B1G games remain. If they win four or five of these this team still has the potential to finish where they were once projected to.

Next Series

The Spartans prepare for more Big Ten action this weekend when they travel to Lincoln, Nebraska for the first time to face the Cornhuskers. The series begins Friday May 12th and is set to begin at 7:35 p.m. ET.